Jennifer Dahir-Kanehl’s lock-off room attached to her condo April 26, 2017 in Breckenridge. Dahir-Kanehl uses the extra room that has a separate entrance, complete with a queen bed, television, coffee maker, ski rack, bathroom and shower as an AirBnb space to offset expenses.

Golden likely will be the next community in Colorado to lay down rules for how homeowners can rent out space to those paying the city a quick visit, a move that comes amid an explosion in the listing of short-term rentals across the state.

The Golden City Council on Thursday gave initial approval to a six-month moratorium on applications for new short-term rentals in the city — effectively putting in place a time-out that the city hopes to use to come up with regulations that balance residents’ desires to generate rental income with neighbors’ fears their block could become a magnet for itinerant travelers.

“There are individuals who would like to do short-term rentals but the city doesn’t allow it,” said Councilman Casey Brown. “Golden is an extremely attractive location for these types of rentals.”

To be fair, Golden does issue old-school “tourist home” permits to residents in certain parts of the city who want to rent out a room in their homes for short stays — typically 30 days or less. But Golden’s code never contemplated the volume of business and turnover that is generated by popular websites such as Airbnb and VRBO.

While the highest number of rentals are happening in the Front Range’s big cities — including Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs — mountain resort towns are well represented in Airbnb’s top 10 list, with Breckenridge, Silverthorne, Steamboat Springs, Keystone and Vail bringing in nearly 200,000 guests combined last year.

Despite Golden’s official ban on short-term rentals, it doesn’t take a long look on various online rental sites to find plenty of people in the city offering space for rent. That has led to worries about the health and safety of guests and residents, preservation of neighborhood character, disputes over parking and forfeited tax revenues for municipalities.

Golden’s planning manager, Rick Muriby, said it makes sense for the city of nearly 21,000 to take the time to draft clear regulations on short-term rentals to ensure everyone is playing by the same rules.

“Hopefully, when we get a legal framework in place, people can come in and be compliant with the code,” he said. “Cities have to understand what’s going on and have something in place.”

Golden looked at short-term-rental ordinances in Fort Collins, Boulder and Denver to help generate ideas for making its own. Muriby said the city likely will borrow a stipulation in Denver’s rules, which were passed in 2016, that short-term rentals only be allowed at primary residences — not at second homes or investment properties.

“We track and monitor via complaints, 311, the website and our compliance software,” Rowland said Thursday. “Violators get a notice and two weeks to fix it, then there’s an administrative citation.”

Some of Golden’s more immediate neighbors have taken action on short-term rentals — or will soon. Wheat Ridge plans to take up the issue this year while Edgewater just drafted rules that city manager HJ Stalf will “severely” limit opportunities for short-term rentals in the tiny city on the shores of Sloan’s Lake.

Brown, the Golden councilman, said he wants to give residents a chance to make some cash on the property they own but not to the detriment of their neighbors or the city as a whole.

“The cost of housing has gone up so much that people are looking for a little income to help pay the mortgage,” Brown said.

The Golden City Council will take a final vote on the rental moratorium Feb. 8.

Denver Post reporter John Aguilar covers hot-button issues such as oil and gas, growth and transportation as they play out in the Denver suburbs. He joined the Post in 2014 after previous work at the Boulder Daily Camera, Rocky Mountain News and the Boulder County Business Report. He hails from Boston and has a master's degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a bachelor's from Dartmouth College.

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